It is well-known that there are numerous types of commercial cookies and cookie doughs sold in grocery stores to consumers. In fact, cookies are an incredibly popular grocery store and convenience market item which are readily available in pre-cooked varieties and doughs that can be baked to form cookies. Doughs which can be placed in an oven by a consumer and baked to form a fresh and warm cookie are popular but suffer from a few drawbacks. In particular, formation of cookies from doughs can be comparatively time consuming as it often takes any where from five (5) to fifteen (15) minutes to bake the dough, along with the time necessary to place the dough on the pan. Also, after baking the dough and forming the cookies, the pan or pans on which the cookies were baked must be cleaned. Another problem associated with using a dough to form a cookie is that, normally, numerous cookies must be made instead of just one single cookie, so that as a practical matter, a person is precluded from making just one cookie and will, instead, have to make an entire batch. Once the batch has cooled and possibly been stored for a day or longer, the desired characteristics associated with a fresh-baked cookie are lost.
The advantage of using a dough is that a fresh, hot, aromatic cookie is produced that is very desirable or palatable shortly after baking has been completed. Thus, it is desirable to have a commercial cookie which has characteristics similar to a cookie immediately taken out of an oven or shortly after completion of baking. It is even more desired to have a cookie that has all the advantages of a pre-baked cookie and none of the disadvantages associated with doughs, but which has flavor and sensory characteristics similar to a fresh-baked cookie. Those characteristics include a warm and moist texture, a strong aroma that is pleasing to the senses, and a fresh flavor only attainable, typically, from a cookie which has been immediately taken from an oven. It is believed that such characteristics are currently unattainable with regards to pre-baked cookies.
As mentioned, there are numerous pre-cooked or baked cookies which come in a variety of flavors and are sold by such companies as Keebler.RTM., Archway.RTM., and Pepperidge Farm.RTM., for example. These types of pre-baked cookies are desirable because they require no preparation time, are not messy, and require no effort on the part of the consumer. Another advantage is that the pre-baked cookies are designed to be snacked on or eaten one at time. The drawbacks of pre-baked cookies are numerous. First, they lack the sensory appeal of a fresh-baked cookie, in particular, most pre-baked cookies lack the aroma, texture, and flavor of a fresh-baked cookie. Often, the pre-baked cookies are hard or crunchy which is considered an undesirable characteristic. Also, it is believed that there is a consumer perception that fresh-baked cookies are more desirable and flavorful than pre-baked cookies. Even pre-baked cookies that are soft out of the package do not have an aroma or flavor comparable to a fresh-baked cookie. As such, it is desirable to have a cookie which requires very little time to prepare, which is non-messy, and which has a flavorful, warm, aromatic appeal similar to a fresh-baked cookie. Pre-baked cookies do not appear to satisfy all of these criteria.
Another point is that cookies made from doughs will typically have the desired fresh-baked characteristics only available for a short time. What this means is that after storage for a day, "homemade" cookies made from doughs are generally the same as pre-baked cookies. Because of this, it is desired to obtain the characteristics of a fresh-baked cookie for each individual cookie regardless of when the cookie was initially baked.
It would appear that one way to satisfy the above discussed problems is to simply place a pre-baked cookie in a toaster or similar heating device. Presumably, a pre-baked cookie that is warm and aromatic will then be produced as a result of toasting. This is not what will happen, and often negative results will occur after toasting a pre-baked cookie. As shown in the examples contained herein, often when commercial pre-baked cookies are placed in a toaster so as to warm the cookies to try and simulate the temperature and texture of a fresh-baked cookie, problems result. Among the disadvantages of placing a pre-baked cookie in a toaster is that drippings or constituents of the cookie fall into the toaster so that there is a loss of a portion of the cookie and also, more importantly, the toaster is dirtied. Even more problematic is that the drippings often contain fats which could possibly ignite. Another potential problem is that when such pre-baked cookies are removed from the toaster they will crumble, or fall apart. A different problem is that some pre-baked cookies will burn or blacken when placed in a toaster. For obvious reasons, this is disadvantageous, as consumers do not like burned cookies. Thus, it is desired to have a pre-baked cookie which can be placed in a toaster that will not burn, crumble, or disperse into a toaster or similar device.
It should also be pointed out that fresh baked cookies out of the oven are more flavorful and aromatic than pre-baked cookies, because the flavors and aroma are in the process of being released. This is because the heat used to bake the cookies causes the flavors to separate from the cookie and evaporate or volatize, which in turn contributes to the aromicity of the cookies. This is a highly desired effect. Pre-baked cookies, however, will most likely be unsuited to produce this aromatic effect because the flavors were initially volatized when the cookies were first baked. Also, typically heat is not applied to pre-baked cookies which would cause the flavors to volatize. Thus, it is desired to have a cookie that can be toasted or subjected to a high heat short time method and that will release or volatize flavors when toasted so that a fresh baked cookie is simulated.
It may be assumed that toaster pastries could be found to be similar to the cookies of the present invention. This, however, is not true, as toaster pastries are generally very high in fat content, low in sugars, and have a lower moisture content than a cookie. Also, pastries will have a dry, flaky texture, whereas cookies have a dense, moist texture. Because the overall composition for a toaster pastry is different than a cookie, it is believed that the two finished products are different.